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Yesterday Israeli TV aired a video of a senior Hamas official saying that the group’s military was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in June that set-off new rounds of violence in Gaza. The comments were captured during the World Association of Muslim Scholars. In the video, which aired on Israel’s Channel 10, Salach Al-Aruri reportedly says, the kidnapping was done in “show of support for the [Palestine prisoners’] hunger strike," adding, “It has been said that it is an Israeli conspiracy, and I say it isn't."

Earlier this week, ceasefire talks broke down as Israel resumed airstrikes in Gaza following rocket attacks from the region. Officials say that three Hamas officials were killed in yesterday’s airstrikes. Since the most recent violence began following the kidnapping, more than 2,000 Palestinians—many of them civilians—have been killed. Sixty-four Israeli soldiers and three civilians have also died in the fighting ... Discuss

Israel has pulled delegation officials from peace talks in Egypt as a potential ceasefire between Hamas and Israel breaks down. The Israeli Defense Forces resumed their airstrikes after rockets were fired from Gaza during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel. According to some sources, Israel may be preparing for a ground invasion in response to the new round of rocket launches ... Discuss

An Egyptian-proposed ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas appears to have fallen apart. Though Israeli officials agreed to its terms—which would end airstrikes into Gaza starting earlier this morning—the military arm of Hamas rejected it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement after agreeing to the terms, “If Hamas rejects the Egyptian proposal and the rocket fire from Gaza does not cease—and that appears to be the case—we are prepared to continue and intensify our operation and protect our people." Since then, the airstrikes have restarted as Hamas continues their campaign of launching rockets into Israel. According to CNN, at least 190 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the recent surge in violence.

There seemed to be some conflicted messages coming from Hamas about the agreement. The military wing of Hamas issued a statement indicating they had no intention of observing the ceasefire, saying they “reject altogether the proposal, which for us is not worth the ink that it was written with." However, a senior member of Hamas’ political party, Mousa Abumarzook, initially said on his Facebook page that “We are still discussing and there is no official position yet from the movement on the Egyptian initiative." According to a Reuters report, Hamas has made a number of demands for the ceasefire including an end to the blockade of Gaze, the lifting of restrictions at the Egyptian border crossing and “the release of hundreds of its activists arrested in the West Bank while Israel searched for the three missing teens” ... Discuss

If you even casually browse the news, you can’t avoid the conflict between Israel and Palestine. But how many of us know what’s actually going on? We can’t provide all the answers in this brief primer, but here are some basics that can help get you up to speed. (And guess what—we have an in-depth feature coming soon.) Read More